


Heart of Crystal (ABANDONED FIC)

by Alteran_Tech



Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Canon, Ensemble Cast, M/M, Not Human, Sentient Atlantis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-10
Updated: 2014-07-10
Packaged: 2018-02-08 05:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1928358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alteran_Tech/pseuds/Alteran_Tech
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The MRM and Ally have waited millennia for them to return. They guess this will have to do.</p><p>(Please take this from me! It's slowly choking all of my muses to death. Anyone is free to continue or rewrite this for their own purposes. I'm clearing my palette of this and washing my hands. It's all I can think about right now and I want it to be someone else's problem. I think I'm going to stay away from anything remotely canon from now on; I seem to do better that way.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was something I've been wanting to see written for a while and decided to do it myself when it looked like no one else was going to come up with it. Now I know why it hasn't been done; It's a death sentence for muses. Fred walked away just in time to save himself and Patrick took one look and said 'hell no, let's do something else'.
> 
> In this universe there is no Sumner (for obvious reasons) and no Ford (because I hated him.) I only have two completed chapters of this, because the third one I wrote went into character bashing of Elizabeth and I don't even know why. I don't like her very much, but I certainly don't hate her. The third chapter here is sort of a dictionary of Alteran words and the fourth is some explanation of what I was doing with this. (Not that I had much of an idea.)

John prided himself on being a laid back guy, never letting anything flap his unflappable personality. Rolling with the punches, if you will. No crushing pessimism and no freaking the fuck out.

Well, that had to end sometime, didn’t it?

AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^

“So you get a promotion and I get a medical discharge?”

Yeah, no, John really didn’t want to get into that, because what the hell was he supposed to say? ‘Sorry about the leg, hope it grows back’? He had the sneaking suspicion that wasn’t going to cut it.

He shifted further back in his chair, hoping that his uncomfortable sprawl gave the impression that he knew what he was doing. Bonus, it gave him time to think through what he was going to say.

And just what did you say to the only other survivor of a mission gone totally FUBAR? He usually just patted his men on the back, made some vague ‘better luck next time’ speech, and hightailed it to the nearest exit. This time, this time it was actually a friend, one of the few true ones he’d had in his life and he told himself sternly to suck it up and apologize. Not that it would do a damn bit of good in the long run.

He sat up and leaned his elbows on his knees, hands and head hanging down. “I’m sorry. I know this wasn’t what you planned on, but if it will make you feel better, I didn’t either.”

“Sir, respectfully?” He waited until John looked him the eyes. Lyle looked pale and drawn, fragile in a way that John had never thought he would see the man. John’s chest restricted painfully as he waited the other man out. 

Lyle smiled faintly at the corners of his mouth, “Shut up. You’re terrible at this crap.” He adjusted himself in his hospice bed, sighing with relief when finally found the position he was looking for. “I’m just grateful to be alive.”

“Yeah, I get that.” The guy had almost bled out in John’s arms. They had been deep in the desert, hiding from the Taliban, and John didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if he hadn’t been able to steal that jeep. John kept the coin he found on the floorboards as a good luck charm.

He patted his pocket unconsciously, feeling its outline through the fabric. “You don’t have to call me ‘sir’ anymore. I kind of always hated it anyway.”

“Hey, it’s not official until the paperwork goes through.” Lyle said with a wink, some his old spark returning to his eyes.

“Right,” John looked out the window across the room, trying not to see his failures reflected in Holland’s face, the only living reminder of the failures that still lay buried under the burning sand. He sighed, “What do you plan to do now?”

“Well, when I finally get fitted for that new leg I’m promised, I think I’ll do a marathon.” He tapped his thigh above the bandages, “I’ll have a good chance of winning now that I’m going to be part bionic man.”

John was startled by the laugh that managed to escape. It was the first one he could remember since that mission. It felt good. Freeing. “Yeah, I might want to see that. Drop me a line when that happens.” He got up from the green visitors chair, feeling his back pop, and suppressing a wince. “I got a meeting with some General, something about my next posting.”

“John?” He stopped at the doorway, not turning around. He didn’t want to ruin his improved mood. “Good luck.”

John dug the coin out of his pocket. It glinted in the sunlight streaming in from the window. “I’ve got this, all the luck I’ll ever need.”

He didn’t wait for a response before he left.

^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT

General O’Neill was the craziest motherfucker John had ever met. And that was probably an understatement. Being poked, prodded, and maybe even probed at one point just to get pass the front door of this place was the only thing that kept him in the guy’s office. He shuddered to think what he would have to endure to leave.

He leaned back in his chair, trying to process what he was being told. Aliens. Real aliens. Aliens were real. “What?” No, it was still getting stuck somewhere between his ears and his higher brain functions.

“You heard me, Sheppard, aliens. Real live aliens. Well, some of them are alive anyway.” O’Neill waved it off as if unimportant, and John could feel a headache in his near future. Yeah, his eye was starting to twitch. That was always the first sign.

“My point is, Spaceships.” O'Neill wagged his eyebrows.

John frowned; maybe crazy wasn’t a strong enough word. “Let me get this straight. The government has been exploring other worlds for ten years now, meeting aliens, fighting bad guys, and now you’re going to another galaxy and you want me to lead the military portion of this little sightseeing excursion because one of my ancestors was getting frisky with one of said aliens. Did I hit my head on the way down here?” He ran a hand through his hair, feeling for any bumps.

The man leaning against the wall, Jackson if John remembered correctly, rubbed his eyes under his glasses with one hand, clutching his coffee cup as if it were a life preserver with the other. “I knew I shouldn’t have let you do the talking, Jack.”  
O'Neill threw his hands up. “What? We both know this isn’t my strong suit. The stars on my shoulders aren’t there because of my diplomatic skills.”

“Unfortunately, I know that all too well.” He straightened, striding over to sit on the corner of the desk. He crossed his arms. “Look, this is a lot to take in, I know, but it’s true. Jack might seem a little,” he paused searching for the word, “Wacko, I guess,” He ignored O'Neill’s indignant ‘hey’ and continued on blithely, “but this is important. The fate of our planet may just depend on this mission and we want the best and brightest. You were on the short list even before your gene was discovered. You’re piloting skills, combat experience, and black ops training were all leading you here.” His blue eyes danced with humor behind his glasses. “Your PHD didn’t hurt either.”

The General pointed at him, “What he said.”

Before John could open his mouth to refute their claims, sirens started to blare out of the speakers nestled in the corner of the ceiling. It definitely wasn’t helping the ice pick someone had driven through his skull.

The General rose to his feet, quicker than his gray hair would suggest, and sauntered into the adjoining room. “Let’s make this thing a little less tell and a little more show.” He threw over his shoulder on the way by.

Jackson followed and John had no choice but to join them. As he entered the room, he could already see the blast doors rising to reveal the room below.

The sight of the stargate stole his breath. It felt like it was calling to him and as he watched the rippling puddle, several men came running through, gripping their weapons close but smiling as if they had just had the time of their lives.

O'Neill keyed the com, his voice vibrating over the speakers. “A little trouble there, Major?” He asked as the gate whooshed and disappeared, revealing a concrete wall behind it. John tried to wrap his mind around that.

Nope, still not quite getting through.

The man still striding down the ramp paused and looked up to them, smirking. “You know how it is, sir. Accidental marriage, Markus has all the luck.”

The General chuckled, “Did he get cake too?”

The Major slapped the back of the man next to him, causing the taller man to stumble drunkenly. “Nope, ceremonial wine this time.”

“Ooh, even better.” O'Neill waved the Major away, “Well you know the deal. Off to the infirmary with you.”

The Major gave a sketchy salute and followed his men out of room. The general caught John in his stare. “So, well, what?”

John put his hand in his pocket and palmed his lucky coin. “I think you had me at spaceships.”

What the hell? He had a feeling his life was about to get a whole lot more interesting.

^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT

God, he was bored. Bored, bored, and did he mention bored? The shear amount of boredom he was currently wallowing in was going drive him crazy, if it hadn’t already.

He’d spent the last mouth attending classes entitled ‘Shit You Really Need to Know’, ‘How Not to Fuck Up With the Aliens’, and his personal favorite, ‘Shit You Need to Know if You Fuck Up With the Aliens’. John suspected that O'Neill had a hand in naming them. Daniel’s ‘Ancients 101’ was a pretty good one too, even if the General insisted on calling it ‘Those Wacky Ancients, What Will They Think of Next’.

He’d also met with the other leaders of the expedition and to say that they were characters was probably the word he’d use in polite company. In private, he’d call them slightly crazy, but he figured he fit in nicely.

Carson was nice if somewhat obsessed John’s gene. He was kind of a mother hen too, but an all-around good guy. Elizabeth was a little bit more complicated and John didn’t know if he liked her or not. Politics had never been his thing.

The Chief of Science though? That guy was getting on John’s last nerve.

John jumped as a pair of fingers snapped in his face. “Colonel, you must pay attention. We do not want a stray thought to cause explosion. Or, it could eat your head?” Radek looked at him curiously, “You did read that mission report, yes?”

John idly poked the object in front of him, bracing his elbow on the table and his head in his palm. He’d been stuck in Radek’s lab for last three days turning on all the useless things they brought him. Where were his spaceships? John silently mourned the loss of his apparently fictional spaceships. “Why am I here again?” he asked, inwardly denying the whine in his voice.

Radek huffed, his glasses slipping down his nose, “Because the General no longer wants to. _That_ is why.” He absentmindedly pushed his them back into place, “Now you are the only one with gene strong enough, because Carson is too afraid.”

Radek picked up the device, grabbed John’s wrist and slapped it into his hand. It was almost comical the way the guy practically dove behind the table. After a full minute of not being blown up, he peeked over the edge. “What is it?”

John concentrated on it. He didn’t ever think he would get used to the way Ancient technology felt in his hands. His mind lit up with feelings and vague descriptions all clamoring for his attention like a puppies begging to be pet. John felt their loneliness too, like the things knew just how long it had been since someone paid them more than a passing glance. He secretly wanted to pet them all if only to get some peace of mind.

“It’s a teeth whitener.” John said placing back on the table, careful not to caress it too much. “You put it in your mouth, wait ten minutes, and presto, pearly whites.”

Radek’s eyebrows rose to meet his hairline. “Really?”

God the guy was so gullible. “Nope. It’s some type of medical scanner, but it won’t do you any good without the tablet that goes with it.” If trying to fool Radek broke the monotony for even a second, it was worth it. The anti-grav disc that John had told him was a Roomba had been one of his best. Radek was still trying to get the thing to clean his office.

“Oh, I guess that will go into ‘missing pieces’ box.” Radek said, carefully picking it up. “Next one I believe to be cold fusion device or possibly a toaster. I cannot decide.”

John started to pound his head onto the table. He thought he might as well put himself out of his misery if no one else was going to.

^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT

John’s palms were starting to sweat as he walked the hallways of the SGC. Hell, it might be the last time he’d ever walk on Earth again. His P-90 slipped in his grip, and he readjusted it, looking around to see if anyone had noticed.

It was funny- not funny ha ha, but funny in an ironic sense- that he could stare down the barrel of an enemy weapon and be calm and collected, but a little thing like going to another galaxy had him scared shitless.

A little thing. Right.

God, he needed to pull himself together, needed to bitch slap his internal coward and face the facts. He was in charge of these people and they needed him to stay cool.

The funny thing was that everyone he passed seemed to be excited, itching to go through the wormhole and discover the wonders of a new galaxy. Didn’t they realize what could go wrong out there? The things that could happen that he wasn’t going to be able to save them from?

Maybe he had just read too many of SG-1’s mission reports. What was the likelihood of those things happened to them? He shied away from the equations running through his head. They all pointed to ‘not good’.

John saw his 2IC jogging towards him, weaving his way through the people heading to the gate room. John covertly wiped his hands on his BDUs and straightened his shoulders.

“Sir?” John had gotten to know the guy pretty well over the last two months and he honestly couldn’t ask for a better second. The guy had a dry sense of humor that John could appreciate. Plus he was willing to do John’s paperwork, which was always a good thing.

It seemed like everywhere John looked, he saw soldiers that would normally be considered unfit in the military at large. Loyal and tough sure, smart and resourceful, hell yeah, but never by the book, never conforming to the stereotype of a straight laced military man-or woman.

John thought O'Neill liked to keep all the ones that were like him. John knew being too strict could and would get you killed fast out there. You had to be able to look some weird shit in the eyes and just keep on going.

“What’s up, Lorne?”

“Colonel,” The major nodded his greetings. John had put a kibosh on the saluting weeks ago. It just bugged him for some reason, probably his own aversion to authority. “The expedition members are all gathering in the gate room. Dr. Weir wants to make a speech,” He made a face, showing what he thought of that idea, “But the General wants a private word in his office.”

John didn’t know if that was a good thing or an incredibly bad thing. He nodded, “Thanks, Major. I’ll join the rest when we’re done. Dismissed.”

Lorne turned on his heel and headed for the gate room. If he had noticed his CO’s shaky voice, he thankfully didn’t say a word.

John hurried up to O’Neill’s office, where he found the General bouncing a ball of the window of the meeting room. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“Ah yes. Take a seat, Sheppard.” He let his feet slide off the table to the floor and his ball rolled to the corner, forgotten. “Okay, I’ll be as succinct as possible.”

John slouched down into the seat across from him. A minute passed with them staring at each other. “Well, that was pretty succinct.”

“I’m allowed to be, I’m a General.” He sighed, rising from his seat to the window and looking down to the gate room below. “So here’s the deal. Try not to die, try not to let your men die, and above all others try not to let the civilians die. I know you won’t be able to save them all, all the time, and sometimes there’s just nothing you can do, but stick to those rules as close as you can and I know you’ll do fine.” He paused and looked back at John, “Do you know why I picked you for this mission, Sheppard?”

This wasn’t what John had expected at all. Maybe a dressing down or maybe a ‘you better not fuck up’. He’d had enough of those in his career to just let it roll off his shoulders. But this, this he didn’t know how to deal with. “Through random blood tests you found out you weren’t the only one to win the genetic lottery?”

O’Neill chuckled without humor, “No and yes. What Daniel said was pretty spot on.” His sigh was loud in the silence of the room. “I need men like you out there, Sheppard. Willing to do whatever it takes to get our men home no matter the cost to themselves.” He looked back down at the people moving around below, “Didn’t you think it was weird that you got away with not even a slap on the wrist? Not to mention a promotion to Full bird. The blood test just solidified your position on Atlantis instead of staying here as my second now that Carter’s at Area 51.”

“Sir, I…” John choked on his words. This was the nicest thing… hell, _anyone_ had ever done for him.

“Just do us proud out there, Sheppard. That’s all I can ask for.” O’Neill turned around and clapped his hands together, all solemnity leaving his face in a flash, “Enough of the touchy feely crap. Let’s get this show on the road. I have the Simpsons to catch tonight.”

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John stood next to Dr. Weir in front of the open wormhole. He still believed he should go unaccompanied though it first just to make sure it was safe, but he knew starting another argument with her was an effort in futility. The silent disapproval he been dealt by her after the last time had finally broken him. She was worse than his mother had been, and that woman had known how to pack on the guilt.

O'Neill’s voice interrupted his daydreams of tying her up like a calf at a rodeo just to get her to stay the hell back while he took point, _“Okay boys, girls, and variations thereof, it’s time to get moving. All’s fine and the weather’s nice, so please keep your hands and feet inside the wormhole at all times. In case of emergency, the exit’s at the front, not the back, of the event horizon. Thank you for flying SG Air.”_ John chuckled as he heard Daniel bitch in the background, _“Fine, whatever. Expedition, you have a go.”_

John and Elizabeth started up the ramp side by side. “So… you ever been through this thing?”

He could see her raise an eyebrow out of the corner of his eye, “A few times on diplomatic missions, why?”

“What does it feel like?” He couldn’t help but ask. They hadn’t let him go through the thing yet, which was kind of stupid now that he thought of it, and that part never seemed to get in the mission reports.

They paused before the event horizon as she thought on that, “I hear that it used to be very cold before Colonel Carter fixed it, but now it feels like you’re getting vertigo.” She looked him in the eyes, her expression serious, “They say it’s instantaneous but it’s really not. You can feel yourself being pulled quickly from one point to another. I have to say it’s not for some. I’ve seen people get sick.”

“Really?” He highly doubted he would be one of those people. He was used to pulling Gs, but it didn’t hurt to find out, just so he could be prepared to clean up some unfortunate messes.

“No.” She said as she smiled, grabbed his elbow, and pulled him through.

Maybe he would like her after all.

AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^

_Wake up._

The MRM swatted at his ear, trying to put a stop the pesky disturbance even though he knew the voice was in his mind and not his ears. He didn’t want to wake up, nothing needed fixed and it was too boring being awake if there wasn’t anything he could fiddle with.

_I said wake up!_

His systems slowly woke, leaving him a little fuzzy around the edges of his mind, “Go away.” He grumbled, flexing his hand. Damn thing was screwing with him again, tingling and almost painful, messed up ever since the electrocution. At least he still had complete mobility in it…unlike his face.

_No! They’re here!_

He bolted upright in his charging pod, hitting his head on the lid. Cursing, he groped around for the release with one hand and disconnected the charger at the base of his ‘skull’ with the other. He could already feel the ‘skin’ fusing over the port, slick and fluid, as the top of the pod slid back with a faint hiss.

“Did you just say what I thought you said or has one of my crystals gone bad?” He paused, thinking about the last time something like this had happened. Distantly, he remembered something about a giant fish trying to eat him. “Again.” He mumbled, shuddering at the hazy memories.

 _They’re here, they’re here, they’re here! They didn’t forget us._ The MRM could see her in his mind’s eye, childlike and gleeful, jumping up and down with excitement.

“Of course they didn’t forget. You’re to annoying to forget.” The MRM griped as he fumbled his way out of his pod and stumbled to his feet. His back creaked alarmingly and he reminded himself to do a self-maintenance check soon.

 _So are you._ She said, pout evident in her voice.

“Brilliant come back. If we had a _Potentia_ for every original thing you said over the millennia, we’d have...oh, right, _none._ ”

The MRM started his long journey to the _Imperium Locus._ He wished he could use the _Irascentia_ to get there faster, but their power supplies were running nigh on empty. There was just enough to hold back the ocean. He had the sneaking suspicion that Ally enjoyed seeing him suffer too.

“So what are we dealing with?” He ran his hand through his hair, trying to beat it into submission. He probably only made it worse.

_There are eighty-six of them all together. They’re close in form to Alterans, but not quite right. They feel weird._

The MRM frowned, thinking of the implications. “Okay, define weird?”

_Weird. Of a strikingly odd or-_

“Not what I meant and you know it.” He snapped. Hearing her laugh at him, he rolled his eyes, “This isn’t the time for jokes, Ally. This is our future we’re talking about.”

_They’re diluted maybe? I can only connect with a few of them and not very well at that. There’s one that sticks out though. I can get feelings from him at least. His intentions, but not all his thoughts like I should._

“It’s been over 10000 years. Some genetic distancing was to be expected.” He continued closer to his destination and straightened his uniform, tugging it down sharply. How did it always manage to get rumbled when he didn’t move in his ‘sleep’? The MRM chalked it up to one of life’s great mysteries.

_This is a little more than some. Maybe they interbred?_

That could be all kinds bad. “Possibly, though why, I haven’t the faintest.” He took the first step up the stairs leading to their salvation, or their doom. He squared his shoulders and held his head up high. There was only one way to find out.

AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^

John was in awe. The high ceilings, reaching far up, came to a slanted point, the site of which stole his breath. He could see a stained glass window, bright and colorful, at the top of a set stylized stairs and he itched to reach out and touch it, to feel the cold glass beneath his fingertips.

With each step the room lit up around him and he couldn’t shake the sense of home, like this was the place he was always meant to be. John, blinking his eyes, shook off his baffling thoughts and joined Weir in front of the ‘gate.

“This is amazing. To believe we’re the first people to step foot in Atlantis for over 10000 years.” She spun in place taking it all in, voice light with her astonishment, “Just look at it. It’s like the city is sensing our presence and coming alive.”

He only nodded. John didn’t have the words to properly express what he was feeling, the pull he was getting from the city, and he wasn’t sure that he should. It felt like a secret between Atlantis and him, something no one else should or could feel. He swore that he felt her joy and worry over having people within her walls once more.

It was ridiculous but he literally thought she was alive, reaching hesitantly out to embrace them. Her feelings were more focused and complex than what he had received from all of the tech he had touched before.

The General’s voice came over their headsets, crackling and distant, interrupting them. _“Atlantis Expedition, what’s your status?”_

Elizabeth pressed her hand to her ear, activating her radio, “Everything is fine here, General. There appears to be power to the systems, though how much, we can’t tell yet. We might not be able to make contact again.” She sighed and glanced back at the Stargate, a brief flash of longing coming over her and John wondered briefly what she had left behind. “That seems to be all of us. I guess this is goodbye for now.” 

_“We’ll catch up when we can then. There’s that new ship we’re building so it won’t be too long.”_ Something was rolled through the wormhole, to stop at their feet. _“Have fun, kids!”_ The gate shut down with a whoosh and Elizabeth bent down to pick it up.

“Trust the General to make _this_ his parting gift.” She smirked, holding up the bottle for John’s inspection.

John laughed as he saw the bottle of champagne and the note attached to it. ‘Bon Voyage’ it read in O'Neill’s swirly handwriting. It did seem like something he would do, one final joke before parting.

John suddenly froze as he felt something new, something skittering at the edges of his awareness. It was sharp and almost painful, and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed it before.

Elizabeth took note of his rapid change of mood and frowned. “John? Colonel, what is it?”

“I don’t know. Something…” He tried to form words to describe it, failing miserably. “I’m getting the feeling like something’s coming towards us. Like there’s someone here.”

He clutched his P-90 closer as he ascended stairs to the room above. He barely gave any thought to the consoles lighting up merrily as he passed.

“It’s coming from that way.” He pointed to a corridor leading deeper into the city. The hallway was dark save for a small bit of light emanating from two strips set into the bottoms of the walls.

He glanced back at Elizabeth, seeing that she was still following. He thought he saw a bit of fear creep in to her eyes but he blinked and it was gone, her face once more set in stone.

She went over to the railing that overlooked the room, leaned over, and called out to those below, “People, can I have your attention, please.” She waited until their murmuring stopped and she had their attention, “The Colonel and I are going to check out the adjoining areas. Please stay where you are and don’t leave the ‘gate room. We’ll be back shortly.” She ignored the mumbled protests and joined John.

She gave him a look when she saw his glare. “Lead the way, Colonel.” She said pointedly.

He sighed. “Yes, ma’am.” He knew by now it was pointless to argue with the woman. It would get him nowhere.

John raised his P-90 and started down the hallway, hearing her hesitant steps behind him gaining momentum as they walked. Whatever he was feeling was getting closer by the second and he could feel the irritation pouring off of it, along with the hints of loneliness he got from all the Ancient things he had come across. They came to T-junction in the path and he put his hand out to stop her from going any further.

He stepped around the corner only to be knocked down. It felt like he had run into a brick wall. Shaking himself and getting to his feet, he paused, staring eye to eye with a man he had never seen before, but felt like he had known his whole life.

The guy was a little shorter than John, but broader, with a receding hairline, pale skin, and bright blue eyes. They actually seemed to glow in the dim light of the corridor. His clothes were simple, white and beige. A uniform of some type, John thought to himself, and he suppressed the other thought of how he looked kind of cute in a geeky sort of way. Too bad geeky was John’s type.

“Uh, hi?” John winced at how lame that sounded. He cleared his throat and tried again, “My name’s Colonel John Sheppard and I’m part of an expedition to Atlantis. We mean you no harm and wish to learn from you.” His diplomatic teacher at the SGC would be proud. Not that he had been paying any real attention Daniel anyway.

The man crossed his arms over his chest, tilted his head back and glared furiously up at him. “What took you so long?”

John racked his mind for what to say to that, finally managing, “Huh?” It was simple, precise, and he thought it conveyed his confusion quite nicely.

The guy rolled his eyes and placed his hands on his hips. To John’s amazement he looked even more pissed off. “Let me rephrase that, because obviously in the ten millennia it’s taken for you guys to return, you’ve gotten even stupider. So, what in the _Alvarium_ has taken you so long?”

John opened and closed his mouth a few times. He had the incredible urge to say sorry, feeling all the anger and hurt. Why was he getting these feelings? It was like he what he got from Ancient tech, but stronger. It reminded him of what he was feeling from Atlantis, but where the city was like the moon, comforting and gentle, this man was the sun, strong and sharp. Ready to burn him from the inside out if he wasn’t careful.

And what the fuck was an _Alvarium,_ anyway?

He felt a hand on his shoulder, light and friendly, and he glanced back to Elizabeth.

“John, I’ll take it from here.” He nodded and waved Elizabeth forward. The guy had seemed a little rude- and rightly so, from the things John was getting from him-but he hadn’t done anything remotely dangerous. He kept his guard up still, waiting for one wrong move.

She stepped forward and extended her hand in greeting. “I’m Elizabeth Weir and-“

The man sneered down at her hand. John caught the slight finch he took away from it. It seemed to be an involuntary action, force of habit or instinctual fear, John couldn’t tell.

“No. No, no, no, no.” The man placed his hands over his ears and closed his eyes. The light in the hallway dimmed around them and John wondered if the man’s eyes really were glowing. “Not listening, not listening, NOT LISTENING!”

“Are you okay?” The sudden panic Elizabeth had brought on with her greeting made John marvel at the emotional whiplash he was receiving by proxy. It left him unsettled and fearing for the man’s- or his own- sanity.

Those blue eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice and he hesitantly lowered his arms. His wary eyes turned to John. “According to my programming I’m not supposed to interact with anyone not of Alteran blood.” His gaze slid to Elizabeth and it skidded away just as fast. “And she’s not reading as even remotely Alteran.”

“Programming?” Pictures of brainwashing scenarios ran through his mind, too horrifying and detailed for his liking.

“Yes, programming. Can we get back to the part where you tell me why there’s a 10000 year gap between visits? An MRM gets dusty you know.” He sniffed, picking an imaginary piece of lint off his shoulder. He suddenly looked to the ceiling and scowled. “Shut up.”

“What?”

The guy rolled his eyes so hard that John’s ached in sympathy. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

“Oookay…” John drawled. He was curious to know if this guy had all the cards to his deck.

“MRM? Do you mind telling me what that is?” Elizabeth asked, pulling John from his musings.

“Yes, I do mind because I’m not listening to you.” His eyes got big and round, fear racketing up again. He pointed his finger in Elizabeth’s direction. “Ahh, you’re trying to fool me aren’t you? I knew it. You won’t get me to say a word.” He then made a complicated gesture that in the end looked like he was sewing his lips shut.

“Just answer her questions dammit!” There was only so much sympathy John was willing to doll out, even with all the crazy.

John almost staggered under the wave of relief. A huge smile stole the man’s face, lips quirked at an odd angle and highlighting how one side of his face seemed to droop slightly. Huh, interesting.

“Why didn’t you just say so?” He focused his attentions on Dr. Weir, “I’m the MRM, nice to meet you. Welcome to my-“ He paused, looking to the ceiling again and rolling his eyes. “Sorry, _our_ fair city.” Then he clasped his fist to his chest and bowed low, bending at the hips.

“Okay, so you’re the MRM. And what is that exactly?” John asked, itching for more information.

John didn’t need to feel the man’s emotions as the hurt and dread flashed in his eyes. “Oh my _Cathedra_ , you did forget! I can’t believe I’ve been keeping this place sunk for so many boring, tedious years just to find out it was pointless!”

“Don’t you mean afloat? ‘You kept this place afloat’?” John asked. 

The MRM- or whatever the guy called himself- stared at John perplexedly, “What? No. I was told to keep her sunk. If you had wanted to have it afloat maybe you should have left it that way, huh? Ever think of that?” He got a far off look, mumbling, “She does like it down here though, says the fish are nice. Frankly, they scramble my circuits when they get too close.”

John was too stuck on the first part to really process the second. “We’re underwater?”

Elizabeth frowned, poking him in the side, “Well, it does make sense when you think about it. Atlantis, the city that sunk beneath the waves.”

John shrugged, “I guess so.” He hadn’t really thought about it.

MRM crossed his arms over his chest and glared daggers at them both. “Oh, I see how it is. She gets all the recognition, and I get ‘MRM, what’s that?’ Talk about thankless job.” He murmured the last looking vaguely hurt. John had to give it to the man for having such an expressive face, even if it didn’t seem to work right.

Something clicked in John’s head. “Wait. Did you say circuits?”

“Yes circuits. As in crystalline. I’m the Maintenance and Repair Mechanoid and I’d seriously consider quitting if I could. I’ve spent ten Millennia stuck here listening to her prattle on and on about the fish and the _Potentia_ and the never ending boredom that is her _Navis Porta_. Do you have any _idea_ what-“

“Whoa there. Slow down and take a deep breath.” John put his hands out placating, trying to calm the MRM down.

That only seemed to rile the guy more. “I don’t _need_ to breathe! I’d say I’d gone insane if I hadn’t passed my self-checks.” MRM paused, “Then again my checks could be faulty _because_ of said insanity. That’s something to consider. Maybe I have gone crazy and I just don’t know it yet.” He looked up and shook his fist at the roof. “No, you cannot!”

“So you’re a robot?” Elizabeth said, stepping in between them. He was going to have to talk to her later about getting between him and the screaming natives.

The MRM deflated, all the fight leaving him as he folded in on himself. “If you want to simplify me that much then, yes, I’m a ‘robot’.”

“And you’re made from Ancient tech.” John snapped his fingers and pointed, suddenly understanding, “That’s why I can sense you.” 

The MRM frowned, the corner of his mouth falling even more. “I’ll admit I’m pretty old from an organic stand point, but I’d hardly call myself ancient.”

“He means Alteran. It’s what we call them.” Elizabeth continued before MRM could open his mouth, turning to John she said, “I believe we should call in Carson and Radek in on this.”

John nodded his agreement and made the call.

AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^

_I still think you should let me talk to them._

The MRM chose to ignore her. He rubbed his bad hand absentmindedly with the other, peeking out of the corner of his eye at the Alteran. He was certainly attractive, tall and thin with a commanding presence. The hair was weird though. He wondered what the man thought of him, but there was some emotions and thoughts blocked by his connection with the Alterans. They had been deemed to private by their ‘father’ when he had created Ally and the MRM.

_You’re too emotional. Let me deal with them._

He lifted his chin in a show of stubbornness and crossed his arms. He’d damn well see who broke first.

_I don’t have to ask, you know._

Now that was just playing dirty. It was always an even more unpleasant experience if she forced it. “Fine! Hey, whatever your names were, Atlantis wants a few words.” He relinquished control as they stared at him.

He could tell by the change of lighting in the corridor that his eyes now glowed a bright gold, instead of their usual blue. They had been designed to do that so that everyone knew who they were talking to. Not that they had talked to him much. He’d probably spoke more to these people in the last few minutes than he’d ever spoken to the Alterans.

Most of his interactions with them had been put through Ally. The only one that had paid him any attention had been their ‘father’. And Janus, but that guy had always been weird, even by Alteran standards.

His body moved without his input as his hands clasped behind his back. He would never get used to that. Being able to hear, see, and feel, but not able to control himself. His mouth opened, and she spoke with his voice, “Greetings, it is an honor to have those descended from our makers once again within the city.”

 _So formal and so_ incredibly _fake_ , he told her. She was always this way when dealing with others. Nothing like what she really was.

She didn’t blink an eye (his eye) at the comment. “I can tell from the city’s sensors that not many of your people possess the gene for technology activation. Can you tell me how this has come to pass?”

If it wasn’t for his superior hearing he wouldn’t have caught the muttered words from the (mostly) Alteran. “Elizabeth, did his eyes just change colors? And I didn’t want to mention this before, and feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but are they glowing?”

“Yes.” She said, her eyes wide with what he thought was either fear or awe.

The Alteran (John, his name was John) quirked an eyebrow. “Yes to which?”

“Both.”

They startled when Ally replied, “Yes, you are now dealing directly with the city’s artificial intelligence. I am Atlantis.”

“So we’re talking to the city?” The one call Elizabeth asked skeptically.

He felt his head nod, “Yes and no. The city is made up of many programs and parts, but I am the program made to monitor and control them just as the MRM was made to fix them if the need arises. While I do not normally have a physical form to communicate, the MRM has generously offered me his.”

_That’s one way to put it. Personally, I’d call it hijacking._

“I’m getting the feeling that ‘offered’ isn’t quite the right word.” Well, wasn’t spiky-head a perceptive one. And what was with that hair anyway? It looked like he was wearing a _Capillus Bestia_ as a hat. MRM shuddered inside his head. Those things liked to bite.

He could feel the right side of his mouth quirk up, the left not quite able to join it due to the damage it had taken. “We have our little arguments as most siblings do.”

John rocked on his heels and smirk. “Yep, I know how that is. My brother and I could never agree to share our toys.”

 _Toys! My body is not a toy!_ The mere idea would have him frothing at the mouth if he had control.

“Dear lord, it’s a man!”

The MRM’s head twisted to catch sight the new comers. The one that had spoken was a bit shorter than him and almost as broad. He spoke with an accent different to the others and the MRM wondered if he was from different planet than Elizabeth and John.

The man at his side was even shorter with long wispy hair even crazier than Johns. He wore small pieces of glass set in to a wire frame on his face and the MRM’s historical knowledge supplied the reasoning behind them. They were apparently supposed to correct problems with eyesight and the MRM shied away from the thought of how primitive that was.

“Greetings traveler.” His head nodded to the taller of the two. Ally and he were only able to truly interact with ones with the Alteran gene unless told otherwise. Well he was. She still couldn’t turn on most systems without direct action by an Alteran. Fail-safes could be a _stercum._

“Oh, hey docs. This is…” Colonel paused, and the MRM could feel his confusion. “Um. It’s sort of Atlantis. Sort of not, and sort of the repair man.”

 _Repair man!_ Well, technically yes, but still, he had a name. Okay no, he didn’t, but the description still rankled him for some reason, like he was easily replaceable with anyone. No organic could do the dangerous things his job sometimes called for.

“I do not believe he is very fond of that, Colonel.” Ally said. “And if you wish, you may call me Ally.”

“What should we call him then?” Elizabeth asked. She seemed to be ignoring the perplexed stares of the two new arrivals.

She shrugged his shoulder. “He does not have a name, only a title. I took the name of the city millions of years ago. Because I am a part of it, they thought it fitting. Since he is a separate entity and therefore not part of Atlantis, they never saw fit to give him one. They only called him the MRM.” She made him frown and he could feel her anger on his behalf. “There wasn’t much call for them to interact with him, because I was always there to direct him to what needed fixed. It was a sore point between the Alterans and us. I was not allowed to give him a name, and he was not allowed to pick one.”

“Rod!” Colonel blurted out. He turned a little red with embarrassment when they all stared at him. “I think it fits. He looks like a Rod to me.” The last was mumbled under his breath.

 _I certainly don’t_ feel _like a Rod._

“No, I don’t believe that is right. He doesn’t like it.”

Elizabeth looked contemplative. “How about Meredith?” she suggested, “It means lord or protector of the seas.”

_Huh. I like it. Lord of the seas. It has a nice sound to it._

“I believe that is a fine name. It’s certainly fitting for his duties, and I believe he enjoys it.”

John scrunched up his face and the MRM (Meredith, he had a name now!) could feel the man’s distaste. “But that’s a gir-“

“Would someone mind telling us what the bloody hell is going on?” One of the men, the one that had spoken before, flung a hand out at him. “Who is this and how is he even here? And what the bloody hell is wrong with his eyes?”

“Yes, an explanation would be nice.” The shorter one said in an even funnier accent. He didn’t appear to have a drop of Alteran in him. _Cathedra,_ the things he had to put up with.

Meredith (he could get used to having a name) pushed Ally out of his head. She had her fun and it was time to get back to business. “Enough of this _stercum,_ I’ve got things to do if all of you people intend to stay here for any significant amount of time. The living quarters need to be opened, the desalination tanks need to be checked, the list goes on and on. So if you’ll excuse me.” Meredith pointed over their shoulders.

_That was rude. Also, it looks like someone is messing with things they shouldn’t. We’re losing power fast and we’ve already lost one of the piers to flooding. The shield won’t last much longer. Maybe a few hours at most._

“Why didn’t you say so? This is terrible!” He flung up his hands in frustration, ignoring the others blank stares.

 _I’m sorry. If I hadn’t been connected to you, I would have been able to see it sooner._ He felt her sincerity and inwardly forgave her. He had never been able to stay mad at her for long, familial bonds and all that. Truly, she was the only thing that kept him together most days.

“Great, just great.” He shoved the short guy out of his way as he hurried towards the _Imperium Locus._

“Hey! Whoa Meredith, where are you going?” John called out to him. Meredith could sense that he was following close behind.

“The _Potentia’s_ being drained fast. If I don’t do something quick, the shield’s going to drop and this whole place is going to flood.” He threw over his shoulder and quickened his step.

“While that might not kill me, the workload I’d have to deal with certainly would. I also assume all of you don’t want to die, so there’s that, too.” He added as an afterthought. The only endearing thing these people had done so far was give him a name.

As he reflected on that though, he realized that it was something that would stick out in his memories centuries from now, long after they were all gone and faded to dust. But he was always left behind or ignored, so it was pointless getting attached now.

But maybe, just maybe, he could…

_Don’t even think about it. That’s only for emergency situations._

He sometimes hated that she knew him so well.

AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^

John and the others couldn’t keep up with Meredith (god, he’d really have to get used to that name). Racing through the halls, they discovered the guy was scary fast when he wanted to be. Inhumanly fast even, which made sense because apparently he wasn’t.

John idly wondered what other inhuman things the guy could do. ‘Cause seriously? Meeting a robot was one of a sci-fi geek’s fantasies, and as much as John would die before he admitted it, he was a total sci-fi geek. His thoughts strayed to wondering what _human_ things Meredith could do when he caught sight of Meredith’s perfect heart-shaped ass going around the corner.

As they slid into the control room, they could already see Meredith tossing aside that long haired freak, Kavanaugh, out of the way of the consoles. He rapidly started typing in commands, flingers blurring as John’s eyes refused to keep up.

Kavanaugh certainly hadn’t endeared himself to anybody at the mountain with the attitude he had, and John found himself fighting down a chuckle that wanted to escape from the affronted look on the man’s face. It served the guy right for thinking he was better than everyone. John had the urge at more than one occasion to pull out his PHD and smash it into Kavanaugh’s face. The only thing that held him back was the thought of how his PHD would fare from such an encounter.

“Who the hell are you and what do you think you’re doing?” Kavanaugh shouted. Great first contact skills there, John thought and reminded himself to mark the guy off the list for potential team members later. Not that he really wanted the guy in the first place, but Elizabeth had wanted John to seriously consider all of the scientists before he chose. So far none of them were on his personal list.

John could barely hear Meredith’s mumbled ‘not listening’ as he realized they were garnering the curious stares of the people around them. John shot Major Lorne a look when it seemed like he was going to interfere. Lorne raised his eyebrow questioningly, but stayed where he was next to the stairs.

“Meredith, could you answer Peter, please? I think I speak for all of us when I say we’d all like to know.” Elizabeth panted. The run seemed to have winded her and the others. Hell, if he didn’t run every day, it would probably have done the same to him at the speed they had gone just to keep up.

“I can’t. The only people I’m allowed to talk to are those with Alteran genetic makeup unless I’m told otherwise by an Alteran.” Meredith shot back. “The only reason I’m talking to you is because the Colonel here told me to answer your questions. It was put in as a failsafe to prevent my knowledge from getting into the wrong hands.”

That made a good bit of sense to John, but it also seemed impractical with the amount of people they had without the gene. “How ‘bout we say from now on you can talk to anyone you want?”

Meredith didn’t even pause his frantic typing to peer at John, and he could feel Meredith’s gratefulness through their connection. “That would certainly be helpful. I’ve never had to deal with so many without the gene before.” He turned back to the console.

“So do you mind telling us what you’re doing, lad?” Carson asked once he caught his breath.

Radek was still bent over clutching his knees, chest heaving with every breath. John crossed him off the list. It was too bad the guy was so out of shape. He was smart and had a wicked sense of humor John had come to appreciate when they had been stuck in Radek’s lab.

“I’m trying to shut down what this _idio_ has turned on. The sheer amount of things this guy has screwed up in such a short amount of time is impressive in and of itself.” He continued on, ignoring Kavanaugh’s indignant squawk, “He’s somehow caused a cascade effect in the systems. They’re turning on rapidly and all we can do is try to keep ahead of them.” He stopped his frantic typing and dropped his head looking tired. “Who even activated this console anyway?”

John raised his hand sheepishly. “I think that was me. I noticed them light up when I passed by earlier.”

“Is there anything we can do?” asked Elizabeth. Her façade was starting to crack, and John could see the fear on her face. 

“Not unless you have a time machine to go back and stop him from ever touching it. Regrettably the Alterans took theirs with them.” John had to blink at that. He suppressed the inappropriate images of Deloreans from popping up in his head.

“Truthfully, the only thing I can recommend now is to raise the city.” His last remark was punctuated by the timely shuddering of the city around them, throwing some of the expedition members to the floor.

John and the others staggered as they lost their balance. “What the fuck was that?”

Meredith seemed to have kept his balance without any trouble. “That was the shield collapsing in sector 32 and it’s only just started. There’s nothing we can do except raise Atlantis to the surface. You have to give us the order, Colonel, or we won’t be able to do it. The order needs to come from the highest ranking Alteran and right now that’s you.”

John didn’t have to think about it long, feeling Meredith’s urgency and Ally’s anticipation coursing through him. “Do it.”

“You got it, Colonel.” The sudden surge of happiness nearly bowled John over. Meredith looked up beaming at the ceiling. “It’s been too long since we’ve seen the sun, Ally.”

The way Meredith’s face brightened with joy had John shuddering for an entirely different reason as the city shook.


	2. Chapter 2

Now that the city was once again in the light of a Lantean day, Meredith couldn’t shake his lopsided smile. He was just itching to go to the nearest balcony and soak in the sunshine, but he was stuck in the council room with Elizabeth, John, and the two others he now knew were Carson and Radek.

John’s military so that made him _Magister Militum_ or close enough, Meredith thought to himself. Then Radek would be the _Dux vir Scentia,_ Carson the _Dux Medicus,_ and Elizabeth the _Dux Ducis._ Meredith inwardly nodded to himself. It was always important to get the chain of command straight. You never knew when it would come in handy.

They were all sitting at the table and had just finished catching Carson and Radek up on what he had already told the others. The look Radek was giving him was starting to creep him out. You’d think he was the last piece of _tormack_ or something. 

“I must study you. The mere thought of what I can learn from you…”

“Hey, I’m not some experiment you can dissect, so don’t even think about it!” He crossed his arms over his chest in a vain attempt to protect himself. While he could take the guy and probably a few more down quickly enough, he didn’t think he could take on all of the expedition without some severe damage to both Atlantis and himself. He was all about the lack of damage.

“No, he’s right.” Elizabeth frowned disappointedly at Radek. “He’s clearly sentient and I don’t even want to think what it would say about us if we tortured him for our own gain.” Meredith fought the urge to stick his tongue out at the guy.

She sighed and shook her head, “We’re getting off track. I think the main question now is what do we do next? Meredith’s said that we’re nearly out of power. Radek, what can we get from the naquadah generators we brought?”

“Not much, I’m afraid. Maybe enough to run the lights and a few of the essential systems. One would be needed to run the Stargate. There’s no hope for dialing home at these levels.” He gestured to the simple computer sitting in front of him.

Meredith raised his hand to get their attention, “Ally said that now that she doesn’t have to hold back an entire ocean, she’s got enough power to deal with lights, temperature control, and air filtration for about ten years, just as long as that’s all she giving power to. If you guys have any compatible power sources, it’ll be appreciated.”

“It should be easy enough to integrate our generators to power most used parts of the city.” Radek nodded thoughtfully. “I will need to see power room.”

“I’ll show you it when we’re through here.” Meredith didn’t like the idea of any of these people touching Atlantis, but on the other hand, it had been too long since he had any help. Just as long as that guy with the long hair didn’t touch anything he could deal with it. Probably. At the least he could promise himself that he wouldn’t maim the next person to screw with the systems. Much.

Elizabeth nodded, “Good. But if we can’t dial home with what power we have, that means our main goal right now is to get more. We’ve brought enough food to last us all for several months, more if we ration, so we’re good on that front for now, and though it will be a concern in the near future, I’d rather focus on this first.” She glanced at Meredith, “Do you know how to produce any more ZPMs?”

“ZPMs?”

“Yes, they are power sources. A crystal matrix made to harness zero point energy derived from subspace time.” Radek mimed with his hand something about the size of his forearm. “They are orange and-“

Something clicked in Meredith’s head, “Oh! You mean the _Potentia._ Unfortunately, no, that wasn’t in my jurisdiction. You’d want the PMM, the _Potentia_ Manufacturing Mechanoid, for that. He’s a weird one though, always sorted his spare crystals by color instead of function. I personally think someone dropped his thought processing crystal before they installed it.”

Meredith tried to remember their last contact, “Hmm, I haven’t seen or heard from him since long before the Alterans left here, maybe 15000 years or so. I don’t know where he was stationed. I didn’t have clearance to be given that knowledge. It was a highly guarded secret kept by the council.” He raised his hand to stall the question he could see in their eyes, “Ally doesn’t know either, so don’t even ask.”

The collective forlorn faces of those sitting around him actually made him more than a little sad on their behalf. He really didn’t like the feeling of disappointment coming from John. It made his chest feel tight, and he cursed his ‘father’, not for the first time, for giving him the full range of emotions. He shoved it aside, his mantra of ‘don’t get attached’ running through his mind.

_You think that’s really going to work?_

He sighed and continued, ignoring her, “If it helps, I can give you the last known locations of some of the other Alteran outposts. There might be something useful in them. Even though I highly doubt you find any more _Potentia,_ it’s worth a try.” He continued before they could get too hopeful, “I should warn you that most weren’t equipped with a MRM, so they’ll more likely than not be in _severe_ disrepair.”

“Why weren’t they, lad?” Carson asked from the opposite side of the room.

Meredith leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. “It’s a long story. Let’s cut it short and say that they didn’t think that the other cities needed them.” Not to mention him and his ‘brothers’ had become obsolete in the newer models with the introduction of repairing nanites. He wasn’t bitter. No, he wasn’t.

_It’s okay to be a little bitter. I know I am. You know those outpost’s Artificial Intelligences are probably insane by now, right? I don’t know what I would have done without you here to pester._

He scowled at her, but went on to explain, “Most of the others weren’t anywhere near the size of Atlantis anyway, so they could keep up with repairs by themselves. The only other MRM that I know of was on Annwn,” Meredith choked a little thinking of his poor ‘brother’.

_Anny,_ Ally said with the same bit of sadness and longing. Of course he couldn’t forget Anny, their ‘sister’. Meredith shook his head trying to dislodge the unpleasant thoughts from his memory banks. It didn’t work, it never did.

He continued on somberly, “But that was abandoned and presumably destroyed years before the Alterans left this Galaxy.” 

So much for his good mood.

John was suddenly alert as he straightened from his casual slouch. “Destroyed by whom?” He had a fierce look on his face that didn’t bode well for anyone who got in his way.

Meredith tried looking anywhere but John’s eyes, “The Alterans had many mistakes along with their successes. One mistake was a species called the Wraith.” Maybe he just wouldn’t tell them what this mistake entailed. Yeah, that might work.

He didn’t have much love for the Alterans, but it was a painful and shaming subject that he really didn’t want to talk about. To think that they could be the creators of such beautiful and complex things such as Ally and himself, but could also be the creators of such horrors as the Wraith. Granted there was fourteen million years between the two, but still.

He folded his hands in front of him and stared at them for a lack of a better place to look, “They were at war, the Wraith and the Alterans. It lasted 100 years before the Wraith forced them out of this galaxy. Atlantis was their last stand and the shield wasn’t enough to hold them back, so they fled through the _Astra Porta_ to _Terra._ The Alterans sunk the city to hide it and left me to keep her working.

“They told us they would return one day, and I had started to think they were lying, because seriously? Who wouldn’t after 10000 years, but here you are!” Meredith flung his hands out to encompass the room and the city at large. He let a slight smile escape, “Well, sort of.” Meredith shrugged. “Some of you are close enough anyway.”

Elizabeth looked a little ill, “Someone defeated the Ancients? From what I know of them and have seen of their technology, they were more advanced than the Asgard. How is that possible?”

“Superior numbers. Their technology was probably millions of years behind the Alterans, but to every one Alteran there was about a hundred Wraith. The Alterans weren’t what you’d call… enthusiastic about living anyway. They had gotten really into that whole ascending thing a while before they even ma- met the Wraith. How’d that work out for them anyway?” he asked, deflecting from his miswording.

He scrunched up his face in distaste. Their desire to ascend was one thing he never understood about the Alterans and the one thing he never hoped he would. It just seemed so cowardly, even to him. The least they could do was own up to it and fix their mistakes.

“They succeeded. Our people have met them a few times as ascended beings. We know that some of them were our ancestors though.” Elizabeth was frowning at him, but he couldn’t figure out what that was about so he chose to overlook it.

“Well some had them as ancestors anyway.” He looked pointedly at their _Magister Militum._ The man’s intense gaze made him quake with something not entirely fear.

Carson nodded, “Aye, the gene is there in only about ten percent of those living on Earth now.”

That drew his attention, “What’s Earth?”

“ _Terra,_ I believe you called it.” Elizabeth answered.

“Ah.” He’d have to get used to all the new terms. Maybe he could interface with their computers and download their files to help him figure it out.

_We’re getting off track._

Meredith rolled his eyes at her even though he was glad for her interruption. Their talks had started to get pointless. “Anyway, you said you needed _Potentia?_ ZPMs?”

Elizabeth smiled, but even without any connection with her, Meredith could tell it wasn’t reaching her eyes. “We would greatly appreciate it if you could help us in finding them.”

He could tell she didn’t trust him. Maybe she shouldn’t.

AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT

John stood in front of the Stargate waiting for his men to assemble and the ‘gate to be dialed. John personally thought that they should have waited until everyone was settled in a bit more, but as soon as the naquadah generators had been hooked up, Elizabeth was ready to send his men through, claiming there was no time like the present.

He was having trouble believing it had only been a day since their arrival. So much had happened that it felt like a week had passed since he had stepped through to Atlantis and met Meredith.

As if the mere thought of the man (or was it machine, John was still having troubles with that) had summoned him, he saw Meredith trotting up to his side, still in that odd white uniform.

John sighed, “At least wear the vest. I don’t want to have to explain to Elizabeth or Ally why you came back broken.”

Elizabeth had obviously not wanted Meredith to go on this mission, but John had convinced her through sheer willpower that Meredith was the best person for the job with his knowledge of Ancient tech. She hadn’t been happy about it, but was forced to acknowledge that John was right.

“Those things are pointless. From what I understand they’re meant to stop projectile weapons from damaging the body.” Meredith held up his hand and ticked off his fingers as he spoke, “One, my skin is self-repairing. Two, I highly doubt that we’ll encounter such primitive weapons. And three, I do have a built in shield, so why bother?”

John couldn’t help but be amused by the guy’s antics. He could feel a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. “Do you come equipped with lasers too?”

Elizabeth voice interrupted them before Meredith could open his mouth with a retort, “Colonel, a word, please?” She called from where she was standing at the base of the stairs.

John went to her hesitantly. He had the incredible urge to stay by Meredith’s side and never leave. He wondered how much of that was because of Meredith’s loneliness and how much was his own.

“What’s up?” He asked as he approached her.

Elizabeth cast a frown Meredith’s way. He was looking at the ceiling like did when John assumed he was talking to Ally and not paying them any attention. “I don’t trust him, John. He’s hiding something.”

John rocked back on his heels in shock. This he hadn’t expected. “What do you mean?” He could feel that Meredith wasn’t telling them everything, sure. But he didn’t get the sense that it was life threatening to them, just that it was a painful subject. He didn’t tell Elizabeth this though. He wasn’t sure what her reaction would be to his connection to Meredith and Ally. Nothing good he thought, judging by her sudden dislike of at least one of them.

“I don’t know. It’s embarrassing to admit but he frightens me a little. We don’t even know what he’s capable of.” She brought her gaze to John and sighed, eyes softening from the scowl that had been there, “Just keep an eye on him, please? I don’t think we should let our guard down around him yet.”

John thought about the general feeling he got from Meredith. The feeling like he was playing with explosives that he had no clue how to use. Suddenly he could understand her worry. “Yes ma’am.”

She nodded once, “Good.” She turned and went up to the control room, leaving him to get everything ready up above.

John rejoined Meredith. “So what’s this place again?” John looked to Meredith and was suddenly floored by a wave of trepidation coming from him. “Hey buddy? You okay?”

Meredith’s wide eyes never wavered from the ‘gate as he answered, “This’ll be the first time I’ve ever left Atlantis. She’ll be lost without me.”

John had a feeling it was the other way around, “You mean in 10000 years you’ve never left this planet?”

That seemed to shake him from his stupor. He scowled at John. It was a little disconcerting that he found that adorable. “Don’t be absurd. For one thing we’re a great deal older than that. And secondly, Atlantis hasn’t always been on this planet.”

“So how old are you guys?” John couldn’t help but ask. John had found out long ago that curiosity may have killed the cat, but the Sheppard was all the better for it.

Meredith smirked, one side of his mouth tilting up while other side stayed in its usual position. “It’s rude to ask someone their age.”

“Well, I think it’s okay to be a little rude if it gets me answers.” Amusement flared over their bond. Bond, he liked the sound of that. 

“If you must know she’s a little older than me by few years.”

“That really didn’t answer my question.” He startled when he realized he had almost forgotten the present he had for the other man. Pulling his aviators out of his pocket, he smiled and handed them over. “Here, I thought you could use these.”

Meredith gently grasped them by their earpiece, looking like they might come alive and bite him any second now. “Whatever for?”

John looked at the ground and scuffed his shoe on the floor. Shaking himself and mentally slapping his inner fourteen-year-old girl, he said, “They’re for, you know, your eyes.”

Meredith gave him a disgusted look, “Obviously, but why?”

“They…” John made a vague gesture to his face, “glow. And frankly, it might be a little disturbing to any natives we might meet.”

A sudden wave of sadness come over their bond and John scrambled to fix it, “Not that they’re disturbing. I think they look fine. Great even.” John snapped his mouth shut and looked to the floor. He wanted to kick himself.

“You think my eyes look great?” Meredith was looked confused and a little hopeful when John raised his eyes, but since John could only feel the confusion, he thought he was just projecting his hopes on the other man.

What if he was projecting his thoughts? What if this link between them went both ways? “Never mind that. Can you…” He paused, thinking how ridiculous it would sound coming out of his mouth. Oh well, it wouldn’t be the first time. “Do you feel what I feel?” At Meredith’s puzzled look, he went on, “I mean I can feel your feelings, but do you feel mine?”

Meredith’s expression cleared, “Oh, that, yeah most of them.”

John froze, did that mean… Well the guy hadn’t run from him yet so John forced himself to ask, “Most of them?”

Meredith nodded, “Yeah, some things our ‘father’ didn’t want us to know about other people. Some of the Alteran’s more… personal thoughts and feelings aren’t shared unless they send them to us deliberately.”

John inwardly sighed in relief, and then realized what Meredith had said, “Thoughts? I haven’t gotten any thoughts.”

Meredith grimaced, “Well you’re not completely Alteran, are you? We’re only sharing feelings because some of your genetics are human. Your brain waves are a little off from what we can normally receive. I mean you’re the only one here we can even connect that much with.” John liked the idea that he was the only one connected with Meredith. 

Before John could respond, the ‘gate whooshed forth, its puddle throwing blue light across the room to be reflected back in Meredith’s glowing eyes. He stuck his hand in his pocket and palmed his lucky coin, silently praying for it to give him strength.

As soon as Elizabeth gave the all clear, they headed through the ‘gate.

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When they stepped out on to the new planet, he gave the order to fan out and scout the area. It looked like the ‘gate was in a clearing surrounded by forest on all sides. It was night there so John pulled out his night vision goggles from his tac-vest, put them on, and looked to the tree line up ahead. The clearing ended about 300 yards out and it looked to John remarkably like any he’d see on Earth. He didn’t know what he was expecting, (purple grass? blue leaves?) but something that could have been anywhere in Canada, wasn’t it. He turned back to the ‘gate just in time to see Meredith step through and slowly put on John’s aviators.

John went to him. He could tell Meredith was feeling a little lost. “Hey, what’s up?”

Meredith answered still looking off into the distance, “She’s not there. She’s just gone.” He shook his head, “Sorry, that’s going to take some getting used to.”

John impulsively put a friendly hand on his shoulder only to snatch it back just as quickly when he encountered something strange. The man glowed slightly green just before John had removed his hand, and it felt like he got struck by lightning. Okay, maybe not that strong, but still intense.

“Ow.” He shook out his hand to try to get rid of the feeling, “What the hell was that?”

“Oh sorry. That’s the shield I was mentioning earlier. I activated it just before we went through the…” He paused, literally grabbing for the word. John noticed he used his hands to speak most of the time.

“Stargate.” He shrugged not looking at all apologetic, “You can never be too careful.”

“Cool.” He’d have to remind himself about it later. He inwardly shook himself. “Whatever. Just warn me next time.” John realized something, “Do you want some goggles to see with? I’m sure one of my men has an extra pair.”

“No!” Meredith clutched at his new glasses like John was going to steal them right off the hiss face. Seeing that John wasn’t making a move for them, he lowered his arms and crossed them over his chest, his chin lifting in defiance, “I mean, no, I can see just fine, thank you. Probably in spectrums you don’t even know about.”

That was okay with John. His aviators looked really good on the guy. “So what else can you do?”

“Well, I can tell you right now that there are no ZPMs here or if there are, they’re completely depleted. The only power signatures I’m picking up are low level, basic stuff.” He looked out to the forest beyond, “There’s a group of about sixty or so life signs in that direction.” He pointed out in to the forest beyond, “That’s where the energy signatures are coming from. Obviously a primitive village of some sort.”

John was impressed to say the least. Meredith could definitely come in handy if John ever got around to picking his personal team. No offence to any of their scientists, but Meredith just seemed a whole lot cooler (and looked a whole lot hotter). 

He just had to convince Elizabeth.

John nodded, and they set out, quickly making their way through the forest, leaves crunching beneath their feet. The air smelled of damp foliage and rotting debris that was lying on the forest floor, and he could hear the chirping of insects and the calls of the birds above and below them. It was disconcerting, but he thought he could hear the slight sense of ‘not right’ from what he would normally expect. Something chittered at his feet and he quickly brought his P-90 up at the threat. A hand settled on the top of his weapon, forcing it down.

“Colonel, relax it’s just a _Capillus Bestia._ Just don’t get to close and you’ll be fine.” To make Meredith’s point a small ball of what looked like fur scurried from one bush to a small hole in the ground that had previously gone unnoticed by him. John couldn’t help but think it looked like a tribble from Star-trek.

“What happens if I get to close?” He pointed his P-90 at the ground. He couldn’t believe that he had almost fired his gun at a tribble for god’s sake.

Meredith’s mouth quirked up. John could tell the guy was silently laughing at him. “They bite. They have teeth like razor blades.” He brought his hands up in claws next to his face and chomped like a demented rabbit. He looked ridiculous.

John didn’t see fit to dignify him with a retort and continued on only to be stopped once again by Meredith. “Colonel, we’ve got incoming. Two lifesigns moving in fast, followed by another about 300 yards behind them.”

“Are they hostile?”

Meredith glared, crossing his arms over his chest. “How in the _Alvar-_ hell, am I supposed to know that? I might be good but I’m not psychic.”

“You know, you’re getting a hang of our slang pretty fast.” John said, impressed once again.

Meredith fidgeted and looked off to the side, guilt pouring through their bond. “I _might_ have downloaded some things from your computers.”

“And by ‘might’ you mean ‘definitely’.” He sighed. John could see this guy was going to be trouble. Entertaining, but undeniably trouble. Elizabeth wasn’t going to like it. “Just how much did you download?”

“All of it?” He straightened abruptly, looking relieved. “Oh look, here they are.”

Suddenly something burst through the trees and John’s weapon rose once again. He made sure that his finger was off the trigger, but left the safety off just in case. Shortly after the first one came through, the next came and tackled the first to the ground. John could tell they were only children but he knew from Afghanistan that children could be just as dangerous as an adult given the right tools. He didn’t let his guard down.

They scrambled to their feet at seeing John and his weapon. One of them, the one wearing some sort of grotesque mask, took it off, and threw up his hands. “Please don’t hurt us.”

Lorne must have heard the disturbance and trotted up to join them, his P-90 pointed at the new comers as well. “Sir, there a problem here?”

Before John could open his mouth another person came running out to stand between the kids and John’s gun, protecting them with his body. “Please don’t shoot. They mean you no harm.” The guy was freakishly tall. His long hair and beard reached to his shoulders and he wore simple cloth and leather clothing. 

Eyeing the man, John slowly lowered his weapon, sensing no threat, despite the man’s height and build. “No, Major, just meeting the locals.”

With a look of relief, the man turned to the children and touched his forehead to the one who had been wearing the mask. His eyes closed as he held the kid tight. “Jinto, how many times have I told you not to go playing in the woods at night?”

“I’m sorry Father.”

The man sighed, kissed Jinto’s head, and stood. “I am just grateful that you’re safe.” He turned back to John and the others that had started gathering nearby, “Have you come to trade?” He asked, eyeing their weapons warily.

John peered at Meredith and after getting a subtle nod, he said, “Yes. We’re… traders.”

The man looked a little disbelieving and eyeing Meredith in a way John wasn’t comfortable with. “Teyla will want to meet with you.”

“Good. Take me to your leader.” He’d always wanted to say that.

“Seriously?” Meredith looked at him, disgusted. 

“What?”

Meredith only rolled his eyes.

Shaking his head, John told Lorne and a few of his other men to guard the ‘gate as they followed Halling deeper into the forest.

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As they entered the settlement, Meredith could see across the waters of the small lake that ran next to it, all the way to the Alteran outpost rising up to the sky in the distance. He could feel that it was no longer functioning and he itched to fix it. His first loyalties were to Atlantis but he had never before been in the position to see if they ran to all the Alterans constructs. It must, he concluded by the urge he felt to find out what was wrong, but it wasn’t as strong as if Atlantis was in the same disrepair.

He assumed that the problem was not something he could fix easily though. He wasn’t picking up any energy signatures that would come with the presence of a functional ZPM. He never missed his ‘cousin’, the PPM, more than he did now. Not that he he’d ever missed the guy, crazy loon that he was.

His thoughts were interrupted when they approached the central tent and the man they had been following (Halling, he said his name was) called out to those within.

They were granted entrance by a strong female voice. Meredith, John, and the one John called Stackhouse went in to find what appeared to be a communal dining hall. There was a large table surrounded on both sides with benches instead of chairs. One of the people, the woman Meredith assumed was Teyla, rose with her head held high. She regarded them with a curious yet cautious stare.

She was the shortest one in the room, but her presence commanded attention. She was beautiful with dark skin and auburn hair reaching down to the center of her back. Meredith had the insane urge to cover John’s eyes to keep him from looking. He really needed to do a check on his impulse and logic crystals when they got back.

Halling stepped up to her side and whispered into her ear, Meredith was probably the only other one to hear, “It appears that these men have come to trade.”

She nodded, never looking away from the strangers in her presence. “Thank you, Halling.” Her gaze drifted from one to the other of their party finally landing on Meredith. Her eyes widened slightly but otherwise she didn’t give an indication of her feelings. “You come through the Ring of the Ancestors dressed as the old legends say they did. What is the meaning of this?” she asked Meredith directly, voice full of steal.

He glanced at the Colonel for any indication of what he should say. He was never any good with interacting with organics and he didn’t want to hurt their chances of gaining access to the Alteran city across the lake. Luckily the man either saw or sensed his distress.

“Meredith is an old fashioned kind of guy, we don’t fault him for it.” John smiled at her and Meredith wanted to smack him. “We’ve come to trade and learn from you. Our people are… new around here and would appreciate it if you guys could give us some advice.”

One of her perfect eyebrows rose on her beautifully perfect skinned face. “My advice to you is to leave this place. We do not trade with strangers.”

“I guess we’ll just have to get to know each other then.” John said, bouncing on his heels.

Meredith gave into the desire to secretly hate her.

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Meredith and Stackhouse had been banished from the tent a few hours ago by John, and Meredith really wanted to go back in there. Just so he could intermediate, he told himself. It had nothing to do with wanting John all to himself. Nope, not at all.

Meredith stood next to the Stackhouse at the edge of the lake. The sun had finally risen allowing the others to see the outpost he had saw hours ago when they had arrived in the settlement. Stackhouse had just called John away and Meredith was relieved when he saw the man jogging up to join them.

John didn’t look mussed up, well any more than he did before. Meredith sniffed the air. Nothing smelled… hinky, so he relaxed. He told himself he was only worried about John being compromised by the Athosians. If he kept telling himself that enough, he just might start to believe it.

“What is it, sergeant?” John asked when he reached them. “I was busy having a very pleasant conversation with our generous hosts.” Meredith scowled, hating that Teyla woman even more. John threw him a funny look that had Meredith wondering how much of those feelings were slipping through. Thankfully Stackhouse chose that moment to speak.

“Sir, look.” Stackhouse handed over a pair of binoculars. He waited until John was peering through them to continue, “We couldn’t see it till the sun rose. Those towers look an awful lot like the towers we saw from the windows of Atlantis.”

Meredith couldn’t help but interrupt them, “It’s nothing like Atlantis.” He scoffed, “That’s just a research outpost, not a full city. It’s not even equipped with a program like Ally, let alone a MRM. They didn’t even name it. That, my uninformed friends, is research center 108.”

John lowered the binoculars. “Fine, but does it have anything useful?”

“If you’re asking about ZPMs, then no.” Meredith accessed his memory, “Let’s see… It was for terraforming research. They were trying to make their life-seeding projects more efficient. It was shut down way before the war was started, when they started focusing more on ascension.” He shrugged, “I don’t think it will have anything useful besides some spare parts for Atlantis.”

John nodded, “I still think it’s worth a peek. Let me talk to Teyla and see if we can get a closer look.”

He didn’t know if he could possibly dislike someone more than he did her at the moment. “Why can’t we just go?”

“Because this is their planet, Meredith. I don’t want to make enemies on my first outing. It’ll set a bad prescience.”

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He didn’t know how he ended up in these situations, but one minute he was roaming through a cave with Teyla learning more about the wraith, the next the wraith were actually there. They were running through the thick forest and he was rapidly losing sight of her, and he couldn’t quite remember the way back. 

He was entertaining the idea of following Meredith’s link when he was suddenly assaulted by intense fear. He heard something to his right and brought his weapon to bare, seeing nothing, he tried to relax, but whispering noise to his left had him whipping around again. There seemed to be moving shadow, fog like, which sent a shiver down his spine.

The shadow seemed to ripple and dissipate as Teyla stepped through it. “Colonel Sheppard, stay focused. It is all in your mind. The wraith can make you see things that are not really there.”

He blinked his eyes to rid himself of the things moving in the corners of his vision. He nodded to her and they were off again.

He tapped his radio to the all-call channel as they ran, “Focus on the ships. The things you’re seeing on the ground’s not there. I repeat shoot at the ships.” He gasped out as they made their way quickly back to the settlement.

_“I’ve already informed them, John.”_ Meredith’s voice came over his headset, and he could feel Meredith’s fear mingling with his own. John didn’t bother sparing the breath it took to ask how he was answering, worried as he was for Meredith and his men. John knew he hadn’t been issued a radio, and for all he knew, Meredith was probably tapping into the signal with his mind.

They finally reached the settlement only to find chaos. There were fires raging and people screaming as they fled in every direction.

John could see his men firing in vain at the enemy ships flying above. They were too fast and seemed to just shrug off the attempts and occasionally flew low to the ground, scooping up people at random in beams of white light. The only thing he could hear were the high pitch wines of the ships and the screams of the Athosians.

Suddenly something forced him to the ground. He looked back to see what had knocked him down, only to see Teyla disappear into one of the beams.

“No!” he screamed out, reaching out to where she had been standing only seconds before. He refused to believe he had failed at protecting his people once more, even if she technically wasn’t one of his own.

Meredith was suddenly at his side, dragging him to his feet, “John, get up. We’ve got to get to the ‘gate now!”

“They took Teyla.” He said staring blankly at the ship as it flew off.

“I know, but there’s nothing we can do now. We have to leave.” Meredith said, raising his voice to be heard over the din.

“I won’t leave behind her or anyone else they’ve taken.” He realized he was shaking. It was anger he told himself, not fear.

Meredith gave him a sympathetic look, “I’m sorry, John, but they’re already gone.”

“I can’t accept that.” He whispered harshly. He couldn’t lose them. It wasn’t in him to give up.

“Then let’s get out of here and _then_ find a way to get them back.” Meredith said with a fierce look, “We’re all dead if we don’t leave now.” John nodded reluctantly and they both headed for the ‘gate, gathering stragglers as they went.

“Sir,” Lorne’s voice came over the radio, _“The ‘gate’s dialing and they’re heading this way.”_

John hadn’t even realized that the ships had left as he was arguing with Meredith. “Look at the DHD and memorize those symbols. You hear me, Major. Burn them into your mind.”

_“Yes, sir.”_

Heading to the Stargate, John realized that Meredith was going slower than John knew he could. John had a passing hope that Meredith didn’t want to leave him, just as much as John didn’t want him to leave.

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“What is this, Colonel? Who are all these people?” Weir greeted them as they exited the wormhole.

He let go of Jinto’s hand and handed him off to one of his men, telling them to get checked out in the infirmary they had set up. John could tell the boy was in shock and, he didn’t blame the kid. Jinto’s father was one of the missing, and his whole village had been destroyed in front of his eyes. John was more than a little shocked himself.

“We were attacked by the Wraith. They came through the ‘gate in ships and kidnapped some of these people and some of my men.”

She dragged him off to the side, away from the others and out of listening range, “We don’t have the resources to spare. How are we going to accommodate these people if we can’t even power Atlantis?”

John was stunned at her priorities, “That’s what you’re worried about? I tell you our people are probably dead and you’re worried about resources?”

She sighed, looking to the ground and breathing deep before she looked him in the eyes again. “You’re right. I’m just worried about the people we have here now. What are we going to do?”

He thought it was pretty simple. “First we rescue our people, and then I guess food’s going to take precedence over power for a little while.”

She nodded, looking determined, “You’re right about the food, but we can’t risk anyone else trying to save those we’ve lost.”

John opened his mouth to argue, but she shut him down. “We’ll talk later, John.”

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Meredith stood just inside of the door leading to the balcony. They had dialed the gate to the destination Lorne had remembered and found out it was an orbital _Astra Porta._ Honestly, he could have told them that, but no one had thought to ask him, so he’d kept quiet. If they weren’t going to ask his opinion then he wasn’t going to give it. That reeked too much of the Alterans for him to be comfortable with.

Elizabeth and John had been arguing for some time now about rescuing their people and he couldn’t help but overhear. Okay, he could have tuned it out, but he was curious about what kind of people these Terrans were. So far he’d have to say that he liked John a lot more than he did Elizabeth, and not just because he was attracted to the guy. She was planning on leaving those innocent people there to be eaten. He’d dealt with enough of that _sterc-_ shit from the Alterans.

He focused on their conversation, rubbing his bad hand nervously. He could easily hear Elizabeth speaking even through the thick doors of Atlantis, muffled as it was, “I can’t sanction this mission unless we have some advantage. We can’t even get there unless we suddenly acquire ships.” He heard her exhale shakily, “I’m sorry, Colonel.”

“So am I.” Meredith stepped back quickly as the door whooshed open and John charged through.

Meredith snagged his arm as he passed by, shivering at the contact. “Colonel, I think you should come with me.” Meredith wanted to save those people just as much as John and he didn’t know why. Maybe it was _because_ John wanted to.

John’s face was carefully blank, but Meredith could feel his burgeoning hope. “You have something don’t you? I can tell.”

“Maybe. It all depends on if it will be enough for her.” Meredith tipped his head in the direction of Elizabeth. She had her back to them and was leaning against the railing, staring out to the ocean.

“It had better be. For all our sake.”

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John followed Meredith’s quick pace to the level above the ‘gate room. They stopped at one of the double doors that John hadn’t seen in the admittedly small amount of Atlantis they had explored so far. “What’s this?”

“ _This_ is the _Navis Porta_ bay.” Meredith smiled proudly.

“You’ve mentioned that before. What is a _Nav- Navis-_ whatever?” John struggled to speak the Ancient words. He’d never been good with languages. Math was so much easier.

“How about I show you?” Meredith pushed the door control with a flourish, and quickly stepped back as door whooshed open.

The sight before him left John speechless. There sitting before him were his promised space ships. They weren’t the least bit flashy like he had imagined, and if he thought about it, he’d say they looked like a piece of ziti, but they were his. He could feel them calling out for a pilot and he was willing to take that call. He was a little bit in love, and John couldn’t sort out if it was the ships or Meredith that evoked the feeling from him.

“So, think you can fly them?” He could feel the guy’s smug pride and John saw him smirking out of the corner of his eye.

John walked to the nearest one. Its rear hatch came down and he walked in. “There’s only one way to find out.”

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Meredith was a little nervous about going through the wormhole a second time in less than a day. He was currently sitting in the front of the _Navis Porta_ in the co-pilot seat, fidgeting with the temperature controls, and trying not to think about how John’s eyes had lit up pleasure when Meredith had shown him the tiny ships.

Elizabeth had grudgingly given her go ahead for the rescue mission after they proved John could fly the thing with ease and Meredith was dreading losing Ally once again. She was annoying but she was all he knew. He had felt so alone inside his head when they had been on Athos that he knew would have eventually started to panic without her constant bitching in his head.

_Let me speak with the Colonel._

He jumped in his seat, startled by her. “Why?”

_I have urgent news for him._

He could see John getting acquainted with the ships systems next to him, trying and failing not to stare at Meredith. He probably looked crazy talking to himself. “Fine, but make it quick. We’ve got an urgent mission to take care of.” He whispered as not to draw any more attention to himself.

_I know, Meredith._

He smiled faintly at her use of his new name and felt her push his consciousness aside as she took control. “Colonel? May I have a word?”

“What’s up Mer-“ John looked up and frowned when he noticed Meredith’s eyes, “Ally?”

“Yes,” She clasped his hands in his lap and stared at them. “I would like to make a request of you.”

John nodded, “Sure shoot.”

“I would like to request that you make sure Meredith comes back to me safe. He the only ‘brother’ I have left and the only one I have been close to through the long years of our life.”

_What are you doing?_

She ignored him. “Please, I need you to promise me. I don’t know what I would do without him.”

John nodded earnestly, “I promise. As long as I have breath in my body, I will bring him home to you.”

His head nodded and he could feel her relief. “Thank you.” He never knew that she felt the same way about him that he did about her.

_I… love you too._ He mumbled grudgingly.

He could feel the corner of his mouth quirk up. “And I you, little ‘brother’.”

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_Ew,_ was the general thought running through John’s head as Meredith and he navigated their way through the Wraith base. The dark purple walls looked like they were oozing a viscous fluid and John was trying his best not to touch it. Everywhere he looked what only could be described as veins and flesh climbed up the walls. He tried not to even think about the floors they were treading on.

John stopped as he heard footsteps down the hallway. He turned to shove Meredith around the corner, only to be dragged there by the man.

Only after the hulking faceless Wraith passed did he dare speak, “That’s the first patrol we’ve seen so far. Where are they all?”

“The Wraith hibernate.” Meredith’s whisper sounded harsh in the silence of the base, “These are probably only the watchers.”

John dug out the lifesigns detector he had found in the puddlejumper (that’s what he was calling it and he wasn’t changing his mind no matter what Meredith said). He watched as the two red dots signifying the Wraith went around the corner and eventually went off the screen.

He noticed that he was shown as a white dot but Meredith showed up as blue. “Why are you blue?”

Meredith looked momentarily confused, looking down at himself and back up before he noticed what John was looking at. “Oh, well technically I’m not alive in that sense of the word, but I put out a false reading that most scanners will pick up as an organic life form. I can even replicate the appearance of a pulse and brain waves.” He shrugged, “I think they did it so that in the event of my kidnapping, my technology wouldn’t immediately be discovered. Not that I’ve had any call to fake it, with the whole never leaving Atlantis thing. Anyway, Alteran tech can tell the difference though.” He tapped the screen the screen were his dot blinked merrily up at them, “Blue will always be me or any other Mechanoid of Alteran design, red for Wraith, white for Alteran, yellow for unknown, and green will be for those strictly human.”

John nodded, “Is there any way to zoom out on this thing?”

“Unfortunately, no. their range is only about 300 yards, but I have a better one built in and I can tell you now that we’re heading in the right direction. If we follow this corridor to the right, we’ll eventually encounter a group of seven lifesigns, all human except one, but I think that’s Stackhouse.” He nodded once, looking determined. “I bet those are the ones we’re after.”

John hesitated to say what he wanted, but he knew it was the right thing to do especially with what Ally asked him to do. “I think you should go back to the puddlejumper.”

Meredith glared at him, “No.”

“That was a direct order”

He looked smug, “I guess it’s a good thing I have a sense of free will then, huh? Now move, I’m not getting any younger and those people certainly aren’t.” Meredith actually shooed him. John couldn’t believe he had actually been shooed. The guy was lucky John liked him so much.

AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT^AT

Meredith sat at the side lines of the party, not knowing how to fit in with the people around him. He just couldn’t understand how they could be celebrating when two of their people lay dead and drained in an _Alvarium. _One Athosian and one Terran gone forever and no matter how many times he saw someone die, he never got used to it.__

_They are celebrating those that lived._

“Get out of my head.” He swatted at the air futilely, “You know I hate it when you respond to something I didn’t voice.” 

_I just thought you’d like to know._

"Quit thinking, it’s not your strong suit.” 

_Says the repair man._

“Hey!” Sometimes he wished she had a body so he could strangle her. 

“Do you two ever get along?” John asked, causing Meredith to jump in his seat. The guy was sneaky even with Meredith’s advanced hearing and ability to sense Alterans. Maybe it was just the fact that Ally had had his attentions elsewhere. 

Meredith clutched at his chest and pretended to breathe hard, “Don’t frighten me like that. I almost shot you with my lasers.” John’s eyes widened and then narrowed in suspicion. 

“You’re fucking with me aren’t you?” 

Meredith dropped his hand and smiled unrepentantly, “Yep.” 

"God, that’ll get old. “ John sat down next to him on the bench. “I finally convinced Elizabeth. I think you helping to save our people gave you major points in her plus column, even though you didn’t tell us that the Wraith ate people, but…” he paused, searching for the right words, “Would you like to be on my team? 

Meredith didn’t comprehend. “Your team. What...” and then it clicked in his mind, “You mean your ‘gate team? You want me to be on your ‘gate team? Like in the files?” John smiled and if Meredith had a heart the traitorous thing would be fluttering. 

“Yeah, I thought you’d come in handy once we’re out there.” 

Meredith thought for a moment. It was a big decision. Did he want to explore the galaxy outside his carefully maintained city? Yes, but did he trust anyone else with her safe keeping? No, he absolutely didn’t, and if anything were to happen to Ally or the structure she resided within, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. Let alone the fact that if she was destroyed, he wouldn’t have a purpose to live for. 

_Go with them. Have a life of your own. I’ll be fine, just come back to me when your adventures are done and tell me of them._

It had been one of the fantasies she had when they were young, to travel to all the worlds that the Alterans spoke of. He knew now as he had known then that it would only ever be a dream for her. But if he could do this for her, travel to the far off reaches of the galaxy and back, and share what he saw? He realized that he would do it. Not for himself, but for her. He’d put his existence on the line and come back to her to give her even some small semblance the thing she wanted most, freedom. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a missing scene when they're in the Hiveship. I was going to come back and write the confrontation between John and the Queen, but I never got around to it. I skipped it because I'm a lot better with dialog than I am with action and that scene was mostly action. All I know was that in Sumner's place there was a red shirt named Ferguson that got drained instead, and Stackhouse saves John instead of Ford.


	3. NOTES

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is my Alteran Dictionary, among other things.

TERMS>>

 _Alvarium_ – meaning beehive, the hiveships, used in place of the curse hell (ex. What in the _Alvarium_ were you thinking?)

 _Astra porta-_ meaning gate to the stars, the Stargate (Latin)

 _Capillus Bestia_ \- meaning hairy beast, a small rodent that lives on most worlds (sort of like a tribble :P) (Latin)

 _Catherda_ \- meaning seat of power, the control chair, also used as an exclamation in place of God! Or Geez! Or other words as such (ex. _Catherda!_ I can’t think with you bugging me! (Latin)

_Idios_ \- meaning idiot, specifically one without professionalism (Greek) 

_Imperium Locus_ \- meaning control room, the gate room (Latin) 

_Irascentia_ \- meaning transporters (I think, this one was hard to find, wordhippo kept telling me it was but everywhere else said it meant to get angry. Oh well, I’m allowed to have some creative license and MRM’s certainly getting angry that they don’t work.) (Latin)

_Jaculum_ \- meaning dart, the dart ships (Latin) 

_Navis Porta_ \- meaning gate ship, the puddlejumper (Latin) 

_Potentia_ \- meaning power, the ZPM (Latin) 

_Stercum_ \- meaning shit (Latin) 

PEOPLE>>>

_Dux Medicus_ \- meaning leader of doctors or physicians (Latin) 

_Magister Militum_ \- meaning master of soldiers, Sheppard (this rank is actually higher than Colonel, but Meredith calls him this anyway because he is the highest ranking one there) (Latin) 

_Dux Ducis_ \- meaning leader of leaders, Elizabeth (Latin) 

_Dux vir Scentia_ \- meaning leader man of science, head of science, Radek (there isn’t a word for scientist that I could find, so I made do) (Latin) 

PLACES>>

_Altera_ \- the Alteran home world 

_Annwn_ \- Atlantis’s sister city, as shown in ‘the Tower’, Anny 

_Atlantis_ \- the home of the Ancients, Ally 

_Axis mundi_ \- the geothermic testing site, as shown in ‘The Inferno’ 

_Kolob_ \- name of the star in which Lantea revolves 

_Lantea_ \- the world in which Atlantis resides, named after they landed 

_Tartarus_ \- the place where the Ancients did their experiments on live test subjects (you know they did) 

_Terra_ \- earth 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I did more research for Latin terms and legendary places than I did writing.


	4. NOTES 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is my vague idea of where I was going with this.

The only thing I really had in mind with this was that I wanted to eventually (hopefully by the end of the first season) have John and Rodney (Meredith) together. And yes Meredith is fully functional, if you get my drift.

The bit in the first chapter where Meredith wonders if can do something and Ally interrupts his thoughts and tells him it's only for emergencies; that was something I wanted to do where there was nanites to prolong someone's life indefinitely. (Sort of like the clones from 'This Mortal Coil'.) The only problem was that they interfered with that person's ability to ascend and the Ancients (Alterans) scraped them except in emergencies. I wanted Meredith to put them in john without his knowledge during the siege.

If you're wondering, and if anyone even read this thing, Stackhouse was going to be the fourth on John's team until he got his own in the second season, making room for Ronon.

The PMM was supposed to be based on David's character, Patrick, from A Dog's Breakfast, and he was supposed to be found on Durronda with a broken memory crystal so they still didn't know how to make ZPMs. (sp?) Jeannie was supposed to be another mechanoid, but I don't exactly know how she was going to fit in. I thought maybe she was a mechanoid made to fix the Jumpers or maybe the gate. The mechanoid that lived on Annwn and Anny herself are 'dead'.

That's really all I had. :(


End file.
